华盛顿——总统乔·拜登财政部长珍妮特·耶伦周日表示，美国在基础设施、家庭和教育方面的巨额支出不会加剧通胀，因为这些计划将在10年内逐步实施。
新的经济报告描绘了从20世纪90年代引发的衰退中迅速复苏的景象冠状病毒流行病。美国人的收入在3月份飙升至有记录以来的最高水平，这是由1400美元的联邦刺激支票推动的，今年前三个月，经济以6.4%的强劲年增长率扩张，导致人们对通胀压力的担忧。
一些经济学家，特别是前财政部长拉里·萨默斯，警告说，美联储目前的超低利率，加上拜登政府在国会已经批准的约5万亿美元基础上提出的4万亿美元新支出，有加速通货膨胀的风险。
拜登上周在国会的一次演讲中阐述了他的宏伟计划。他们将扩大儿童的社会安全网，增加税关注富人和基金项目，这些项目对基础设施做出了雄心勃勃的定义，着眼于通过中产阶级的工作岗位长期稳定经济。
针对对通胀的担忧，耶伦在NBC的“会见媒体”节目中表示，拟议的支出“一旦经济回到正轨就会生效”。
“它在8到10年间分布相当均匀。所以对需求的提振是适度的，”她说。“我不认为通胀会成为一个问题，但如果它成为一个问题，我们有工具来解决它。”
前美联储主席耶伦表示，央行“有工具在通胀出现时纠正通胀。”
美联储主席杰伊·鲍威尔(Jay Powell)明确表示，他不认为价格可能大幅飙升。鲍威尔打赌，即使经济复苏加剧，美联储也可以保持低利率，而不必迅速加息来阻止失控的通胀。
耶伦称拜登计划是“历史性的投资，我们需要这些投资来使我们的经济富有成效和公平。”
她指出，政府提议将公司税率提高到目前的21%以上，并堵塞漏洞，鼓励美国公司将海外收入转移到避税天堂，以此来支付这些支出。年收入超过100万美元的人的资本收益和股息税将增加到39.6%，与2017年特朗普税法之前年收入超过40万美元的家庭的收入税率相同。
政府承诺，根据其计划，收入低于40万美元的家庭不会多缴税一分钱。
与支出计划一样，税收改革必须由国会实施，白宫与共和党议员和一些坚决反对增税的民主党人的谈判承诺将是艰巨的。
共和党参议员约翰·巴拉索在美国广播公司的《本周》节目中说:“任何说这只是1%或大公司的人——我的意思是，那只是虚假的数学。”
Yellen: Biden's phased-in spending plan won't fuel inflation
WASHINGTON -- PresidentJoe Biden’s massive proposed spending on infrastructure, families and education will not fuel inflation because the plans would be phased in gradually over 10 years, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday.
New economic reports have portrayed a surging recovery from the recession unleashed by thecoronaviruspandemic. Americans’ incomes soared in March by the most on record, boosted by $1,400 federal stimulus checks, and the economy expanded at a vigorous annual rate of 6.4% in the first three months of the year, leading to concern over inflationary pressures.
Some economists, notably former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, have warned that the Federal Reserve’s current ultra-low interest rates, along with the Biden administration’s proposed $4 trillion in new spending, atop about $5 trillion already approved by Congress, risk accelerating inflation.
Biden laid out his expansive plans in an address to Congress last week. They would expand the social safety net for children, increasetaxeson the wealthy and fund projects that take an ambitious definition of infrastructure, with an eye to stabilizing the economy over the long term with middle-class jobs.
Addressing fears about inflation, Yellen said on NBC's “Meet the Press” that the proposed spending “comes into effect once the economy is back on track.”
“It’s spread out quite evenly over eight to 10 years. So the boost to demand is moderate,” she said. “I don’t believe that inflation will be an issue, but if it becomes an issue, we have tools to address it.”
Yellen, a former Fed chair, said the central bank “has the tools to redress inflation should it arise."
Fed Chairman Jay Powell has clearly indicated that he does not believe a sharp surge in prices is likely. Powell is betting that the Fed can keep interest rates low even as the economic recovery intensifies, and will not have to quickly raise rates to stop runaway inflation.
Yellen called the Biden plans “historic investments that we need to make our economy productive and fair.”
She noted that the administration is proposing that the spending be paid for by raising the tax rate on corporations above the current level of 21% and closing loopholes to encourage U.S. corporations to shift their income abroad to tax havens. People earning more than a million dollars annually would see a tax increase on their capital gains and dividends to 39.6%, the same rate as income for families making over $400,000 a year before the 2017 Trump tax law.
The administration is pledging that under its plan, no family earning less than $400,000 would pay a penny more in taxes.
Like the spending plans, the tax changes must be enacted by Congress, and the White House’s negotiations with Republican lawmakers, and some Democrats, who staunchly oppose tax increases promise to be strenuous.
“Anybody that says this is going to be just on the 1 percent or big corporations -- I mean, that’s just phony math,” Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said on ABC's “This Week.”
